By Kenton X. Chance
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — President of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Daniel Best, Wednesday said that the region’s premier financial institution is committed to doing more, much faster.
“Our team at CDB is energised, engaged and committed to realising the best version of the bank for the region,” Best, the bank’s seventh president, said at his first annual news conference.
“As one prime minister said to me, CDB must do more, better, faster, and we accept that challenge. The good people of this Caribbean region, we serve, nothing less,” Best said, three months after being elected as the bank’s president in December.
Best told the annual news conference that he believes firmly in the mission and purpose of the CDB, adding that the core of its work is a relentless drive to reduce poverty and transform lives through sustainable, resilient and inclusive development.
“This commitment is woven into each loan, grant, research project and piece of policy advice we provide every engagement is guided by questions such as, how is this reducing poverty? How will this transform lives? How will this propel the Caribbean forward.”
The Barbadian-born CDB president said he could think of no other word that encapsulates his vision for the CDB than rebirth, which “signals the bank’s focus on delivering excellence to the people of this region”.
He told reporters that the CDB will practice excellence in each stage of every process, “whether we are providing policy advice, appraising and implementing projects in our countries, or formulating country engagement strategies as we support our Caribbean in the march towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, excellence will be our hallmark”.
Best said this excellence and renewed commitment to the people of the region has never been more appropriate than now.
“Our region faces uncertainties that we have never before contemplated. Geopolitical tensions arising from inward-looking or nationalistic policies have the potential to stymie trade and growth and the withdrawal of financial aid and technical cooperation places our already vulnerable populations at even greater risk.”
He said the CBD has been engaging in regional discussions to better understand the scale and the scope of the challenges confronting its clients and shareholders “and we stand ready to support the people of the region as they navigate these uncertain times”.
Best said the bank recognises that it “cannot address the region’s issues by itself, and so partnerships and resource mobilization will be key tools in our arsenal”.
He announced that the bank has concluded its negotiations with its contributors for the replenishment of its Special Development Fund (SDF), the bank’s largest pool of concessional resources.
“After more than a year of discussions, we agreed a US$460 million programme for the 11th cycle of the fund,” Best said, adding that programme comprises grants and concessional loans that will see the CDB “play an even greater role in addressing poverty alleviation and human development across our borrowing member countries”.
The 11th cycle covers the period 2025 to 2028 and aims to boost environmental resilience with at least 35 per cent of resources targeted towards climate financing.
“This will support adaptation and mitigation projects post-disaster interventions, disaster risk management and biodiversity preservation, production resilience to strengthen private sector development and improve economic infrastructure, social resilience to enhance educational outcomes and social protection systems.”
The US$460 million is US$77 million more than the previous cycle and Best said this highlights “the enduring dedication of our donors and contributors who, despite a difficult global economic landscape, have demonstrated unwavering support for the Caribbean sustainable development”.
He said that a key aspect of the fund is its increased emphasis on climate resilience through stepped-up support for adaptation and mitigation measures.
“Guided by the principles of gender equality, good governance and innovation, the fund will further advance regional cooperation, integration and digitalisation, accelerating our collective progress towards a robust and sustainable future,” he said.
The CDB president noted that since 1984, the SDF has injected over US$2.1 billion into social development initiatives, tangibly improving quality of life for citizens across the Caribbean.
Best said the programme, along with the other resources of the CDB, will be critical in supporting the bank’s vision of rebirth for the institution.
He said the vision rests on three main pillars — innovate, transform and thrive.
“By innovating in our sectors of engagement, we will pioneer cutting-edge solutions and leverage new technologies to address complex development challenges,” he said, adding that the transformation pillar is “internal design.
“It speaks fundamentally to reshaping processes and systems that enhance efficiency, inclusivity and sustainability.”
He said the CDB is thinking differently about how it approaches development problems, adding, “By relooking how we organise ourselves to deliver we are able to contribute to a thriving region.”
The CDB president said innovation “is the heartbeat of progress. With this in mind, we will prioritise data for development as a key area for informed decision-making in a dynamic Caribbean”.
Best said the CDB must innovate its bank’s financing solutions and he promised that the bank will dedicate efforts to collaborating with other partners creating new and innovative financial products that enable the CDB to mobilise resources at scale for those in need.
“This has already begun in earnest, and we hope to launch at least three new products this year dedicated to accelerating the just green transition and support the risk in the private sector.”
He said that supporting the energy transition is critical for the CDB, and the bank will focus on delivering access to reliable, sustainable energy to the region, while prioritising energy access for underserved communities. We must also devote our attention to addressing food security.
“Look, we saw firsthand during the COVID-19 pandemic, the risk to food security as global supply chains were disrupted, but this is an issue that the region can address to unlock the potential for building supply chains, we need a coordinated effort to upgrade our regulatory, institutional and infrastructure frameworks.”
Best said the CDB stands willing to support the region in this effort, adding “Education is essential, and we commit to support the delivery of quality learning outcomes to every Caribbean student.
“However, it is not simply enough to educate our citizens. We have to ensure that Caribbean economies provide our educated young people with opportunities to earn a decent living in a safe environment and with access to leisure opportunities that make our region the preferred place for them to live.”
Best said the CDB will work with its membership to support “the birth of a new dynamic, diverse, internationally competitive private sector; a region where every citizen lives free from the fear of violence, sustainable development…and economic and social upliftment of its people, trade facilitation and interconnectivity through regional cooperation and integration and gender equality and Diversity Equity and Inclusion across all strata of Caribbean life”.
He said that under the pillar of transformation, the CDB “will usher in a new age of implementation and delivery by, among other things, adopting first principles of thinking, we must enhance what drives client focus and delivery and discard value depleting layers.
“We have to increase the scale, speed and effectiveness of climate and disaster risk reduction financing for our borrowing member countries, we can no longer be surprised when we are impacted by a natural hazard event.”
Best said the Caribbean is seven times more likely to be impacted by a natural hazard event than a larger country.
He said that the final pillar — thrive — “is the ultimate goal.
“Thriving means not just surviving, but excelling with a vibrant, resilient economy, healthy environment and a society where everyone has the chance to succeed. But more specifically, for me, it means the seamless movement of goods and services across the region, and extra regionally.
“The CARICOM target of 25 per cent reduction in food importation being achieved, low levels of unemployment, declining incidents of violent crime, a level of human development that is at the highest level globally,” Best said, adding that his team at the CDB is poised to respond to these pillars.